Bruce Ralston is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician. He was a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, representing the riding of

Surrey-Whalley Surrey-Whalley is a former provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada in use from 1991 to 2024. Under the 2021 British Columbia electoral redistribution that took effect for the 2024 election, the ri ...

from 2005 until 2024. A member of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

(NDP), he has served in the cabinets of

Premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

John Horgan John Joseph Horgan (August 7, 1959 – November 12, 2024) was a Canadian politician and diplomat who served as the 36th premier of British Columbia from 2017 to 2022 and the ambassador of Canada to Germany from 2023 to 2024. He led the Briti ...

and

David Eby David Robert Patrick Eby (; born July 21, 1976) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has served as the 37th and current premier of British Columbia since November 18, 2022. Eby is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) a ...

Life and career

Ralston was born in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and grew up in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He has degrees in history and law from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, and a degree in history from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in England. He was called to the bar in 1982, and has lived in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

since 1990, where he ran his own law firm. Ralston served on the

Surrey City Council Surrey City Council is the governing body of the City of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. The council consists of the mayor and eight elected city councilors representing the city as a whole. Municipal elections also select six school trustees. Mu ...

from 1988 to 1993. He was a member of the board of directors of

Vancouver City Savings Credit Union Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, commonly referred to as Vancity, is a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. By asset size, Vancity is the largest community credit union in Canada , with i ...

from 1995 to 2006. Between 1996 and 2001, he served as president of the BC NDP. He ran in the 2001 provincial election as the NDP candidate in Surrey-Panorama Ridge, finishing a distant second behind

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate

Gulzar Cheema Gulzar Singh Cheema (born August 11, 1954) is an Indian-born Canadian physician and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1988 to 1993, and a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to ...

. In the

2005 election The following elections occurred in the year 2005. * 2005 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2005 Burkinabé presidential election * 2005 Burundian Senate election * 2005 Burundian communal elections * 2005 Burundian constitutio ...

he instead contested the riding of

, winning the seat with 55% of the vote. He kept his seat in the 2009 election, growing his vote share to 66.5%, and was re-elected in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. He replaced

as NDP house leader in March 2014, allowing Horgan to contest the party leadership. In July 2017, Ralston was named Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology in the NDP minority government. He swapped portfolios with Michelle Mungall in January 2020, becoming Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. His post was modified to Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation and Minister Responsible for the Consular Corps of British Columbia in November 2020, and he was appointed

Queen's counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in December of the same year. He was subsequently named Minister of Forests in the

Eby ministry The Eby ministry is the combined Cabinet (formally the Executive Council of British Columbia) that has governed British Columbia since November 18, 2022. It is chaired by the 37th premier of British Columbia, David Eby. The Cabinet is made up ...

on December 7, 2022, while retaining the role of Minister Responsible for the Consular Corps.

Electoral results

, - , - ,

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Dev ...

, Bruce Ralston , align="right", 3,240 , align="right", 19.91 , align="right", – , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total Valid Votes !align="right", 16,272 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total Rejected Ballots !align="right", 128 !align="right", 0.79 !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", 16,400 !align="right", 69.04 !align="right",

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, Bruce Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Politicians from Victoria, British Columbia Surrey, British Columbia city councillors Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Canadian King's Counsel Lawyers in British Columbia 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia